J 209 
G82 
opy 1 



CARROTS, 



Mangold Wurtzels 



AND 



SUGAR BEETS. 



HOW TO RAISE THEM, HOW TO KEEP 
THEM AND HOW TO FEED THEM. 



By JAMES J. H. GREGORY, 

AUTHOR OF "ONION RAISING," " CABBAGE RAISING," ETC. 



LINOTYPED AND PRINTED BY J. J. ARAKELYAN, 
295 CONGRESS STREET, BOSTON. 



CABBAGES: 

HOW TO RAISE THEM. 

Price, 30 Cents, by Mail. 



SQUASHES: 

HOW TO GROW THEM 

Price, 30 Cents, by Mail. 



Each of these treatises is amply illustrated and 
gives full particulars on every point, includ- 
ing keeping and marketing the crops. 



CARROTS, 

Mangold Wurtzels 



AND 



SUGAR BEETS. 



HOW TO RAISE THEM, HOW TO KEEP 
THEM AND HOW TO FEED THEM. 



By JAMES J. H. GREGORY, 

AUTHOR OF "ONION RAISING." " CABBAGE RAISING," ETC. 



LINOTYPED AND PRINTED BY J. J. ARAKELYAN, 
295 CONGRESS STREET, BOSTON. 



TWO COPIES RECEIVED. 

Library of Cofigrei* 
Office of the 

MM H 1800 

BogUttr of Copjrt«Mli 

a. "?**~ 



SECOND COPY, 



wtm 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1930, by 

JAMES J. H. GREGORY. 
At the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massachusetts. 



CONTENTS. 



The Argument for the Raising of roots . . 3 
THE CARROT . . . ... 5 

The Location and Soil 5 

The Manure and its Application . .7 

Preparing the Bed ...... 12 

When to Plant 13 

The Seed and the Planting of it . . . 15 

Quantity to the Acre . . . . . .16 

Varieties, and What Kinds to Grow . . 17 

Early Very Short Scarlet . . . . 19 

Early Short Scarlet Horn . . . .19 

Short Horn . . . . . . 19 

Danvers Carrot . . . . . • 21 

Guerande Carrot 21 

Long Orange, or Long Surry . . .21 

Large White Belgian . . . .22 

The Cultivation, and the Implements needed . 23 

Gathering and Storing the Crop . . .26 

Raising Carrots with Onions . . . . 29 

Marketing and Feeding 30 

THE MANGOLD WURTZELS ... 32 
Varieties . . . . . . . -34 

The Long Varieties 35 



The Round Varieties .... 

The Ovoid Varieties 

What Kinds to Grow .... 

The Soil and its Preparation . 

The Manure and its Application 

Salt as an Auxiliary Manure 

Planting the Seed and Tending the Crop 

Gathering and Storing the Crop 

Feeding the Crop .... 

The Cost of the Crop .... 



35 
35 
35 
38 

39 

48 

49 
52 
56 
61 



CARROTS 



In nutritious value roots compare with hay in about 
the average proportion of one to three. If now we 
consider that thirty-four tons. of Swedes nearly forty 
tons of Carrots and seventy-four tons of Mangold 
roots have been raised in Massachusetts, to the acre, 
and that to each of these crops should be added at 
least 15 per cent, for the fodder value of the yield of 
leaves, which were not included in these estimates, 
we have a demonstration of how immensely more is 
the nourishment that can be obtained from an acre of 
roots than from an acre in hay. Such an immense in- 
crease in the nourishing products of the farm, if fed 
on the premises as it should be, unless the farmer is 
so located that he can buy manure cheaper than he 
can make it, means a great increase in the manure 
products, and consequently a great increase in the 
crops, — so that it has been wisely said, root culture 
lies at the basis of good husbandry. 

Carrots and Mangolds are subject to but few dis- 
eases. In discussing the nutritious value, chemists 
differ somewhat, according as they measure this by 
the nitrogen they contain, their per cent, of dry mat- 
ter or sugar, but they agree in ranking them much 
superior to the early varieties of turnip and somewhat 
superior to the Ruta Baga or Swede class, particularly 
when fed to full grown cattle. Prof. Johnson ranks 
Carrots with Cabbage when fed to oxen, for nour- 
ishment. Experiments appear to have proved that 



A CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS. 

when equal measures of each are fed, Mangolds will 
give a greater increase of milk than potatoes, by about 
a third. For some reason not fully understood (per- 
haps the depth they penetrate the soil has something 
to do with it) Onions will do better after Carrots than 
after any other crop, the yield being larger, the bulb 
handsomer, while the crop will bottom down earlier, 
and better. Unlike Turnips or Swedes, with high 
manuring the crop can be profitably grown for years 
on the same piece of land. Swine prefer Mangolds to 
any root except the parsnip, and both in this country 
and in England store hogs, weighing from 125 lbs. 
and upwards have been carried through the winter in 
fine condition, when fed wholly on raw Sug'ar Beets or 
Mangolds. Chemists rank Carrots, when compared 
with oats, with reference to their fat and flesh form- 
ing qualities, as 1 to 5. 

Not only have roots a value in themselves as food, 
but they have a special office, taking to a large degree 
the place of grass and preventing the constipation that 
dry feed sometimes causes. While practice proves 
that they should not be relied upon to entirely super- 
sede hay or grain, still they increase the value of 
either of these to a large degree; and for slow work- 
ing stock they may be fed with profit in place of from 
a third to half the grain usually given. Carrots add 
not only to the richness of the color, but also to the 
quality of the milk, while the flavor of the butter made 
from such milk is improved. Carrots fed in moderate 
quantities to horses give additional gloss to their hairy 
coats, and have not only a medicinal value when given 
to such as have been over-grained, but aid them in di- 
gesting grain, as may be seen in the dung of horses 
fed on oats with Carrots, and that of those fed on oats 



CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS. 

without Carrots. When cooked they are sometimes 
fed to poultry, and either cooked or raw to swine. In 
the family economy they have their place, particularly 
when young and fresh, while in Europe they enter 
largely into the composition of the well-known vege- 
table soups of the French. 



THE CARROT. 

"The Carrot," (Daucus Carota) says Burr in his 
"Field and Garden Vegetables of America, 1 ' a book 
worthy a place in every farmer's library, — "in its cul- 
tivated state is a half-hardy biennial. It is indigenous 
to some parts of Great Britain, generally growing in 
chalky or sandy soil, and to some extent has become 
naturalized in this country; being found in gravelly 
pastures and mowing fields, and occasionally by road- 
sides, in loose places, where the surface has been dis- 
turbed or removed. In its native state the root is 
small, slender and fibrous or woody, of no value, and 
even of questionable properties as an article of food.'' 

The average result of several analyses of the Carrot 
as given by Dr. Voelcker, is as follows: 
Water, 

Albuminous Compounds, 
Fat, 
Pectine, 



Cellular Fiber, 

Sugar, 
Ash, 



87.0 

■7 

.2 

1.2 

3-5 

6-5 

•9 



THE LOCATION AND SOIL. 
It is important in selecting a location for the Carrot 



/. CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS. 

bed that the land should be nearly level, as otherwise 
the seed will be liable to wash out after heavy showers, 
and the plants while young be either washed out or 
covered with soil and killed. The land should be, as 
far as possible, clear of all stones. The presence of 
large rocks "in place," as the geologists say, would in- 
terfere with the continuity of the rows, while the loose 
stones are not only always in the way while raking 
and planting the bed, but are also in the way of the 
slide or wheel hoes which are apt to knock them 
against the young plants to their injury. The strong- 
est objections to a stony soil, for Carrots, are that it 
terferes with the growth of the roots and greatly in- 
creases the labor of digging them. It is important that 
the piece of ground selected for a crop that will re- 
quire so much manure and labor should have every 
advantage possible in its favor; it should not only be 
level and comparatively free from stones, but if pos- 
sible should have been previously under high cultiva- 
tion, that it may come to Carrots when in high con- 
dition. 

The best soil, particularly for the Long Orange 
variety, is a loam mellow to the depth of two feet or 
more. On such soil the Carrot will perfect itself, 
growing straight and altogether beautiful to look 
upon, as they stretch from side to side of the bushel 
boxes. On some market gardens near critical mar- 
kets, farmers find it for their interest to ascertain by 
actual experiment on what part of their grounds the 
root will grow longest and straightest, and when such 
plot is found make it a permanent bed. If the soil 
does not naturally, grow a long Carrot and they are 
desired, the end may be attained by trenching deep 
and adding sand. The difference in the shape of the 



CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS 

7 
Long Orange, when grown on a deep mellow loam, 
and on a heavy soil with a compact sub-soil, is so re- 
markable that it would be almost impossible to make 
an inexperienced person believe each lot was from 
the same seed, — those grown on the heavy soil, rest- 
ing on a compact sub-soil, oftentimes so closely re- 
sembling the Intermediate varieties as not to be dis- 
tinguished from them. Though the course is not on 
the whole to be advised, yet Carrots can be raised on 
freshly turned sod. Such land will be very free from' 
weeds, and by making good use of the wheel harrow, 
and applying manure in a very fine state, should the 
season be a moist one, fair crops may be raised. Re- 
claimed meadows in a good state of cultivation, which 
are well-drained to the depth of thirty inches, will 
oftentimes grow crops, large in bulk, but the individ- 
ual roots are oftentimes inclined to "sprangle," and 
unless such meadows have been well drained, and lib- 
erally covered with sand or gravelly loam, they are 
apt to be spongy and inferior. When grown on land 
inclining to clay, they are apt to be small and woody 
in structure; still, such land, if made friable by good 
underdraining and the application of sand, may be 
made fair Carrot ground. 

THE MANURE AND ITS APPLICATION. 

All root crops delight in most liberal manuring and 
the highest of cultivation. Carrots are no exception 
to this rule. With every crop, other conditions being 
equal, it is the last half of the manure gives the pro-fits; 
and the more costly the cultivation required the more 
important it is that this golden fact be borne in mind. 
Though chemical analysis shows difference in the 



g Carrots, mangolds and sugar beets. 

composition of all roots, and that there is therefore an 
office for special manures, yet their general composi- 
tion is so nearly alike, and animal manures, most of 
which contain in greater or less proportion, all the ele- 
ments required, are so difficult to handle in just the 
proportions that would be required from the chemical 
standpoint, particularly when we consider that soils 
on which root crops are grown are usually rich in 
manures, varying in their chemical constituents, left 
over from, former crops; — for this reason I treat of 
manure by the cord and with reference to its compara- 
tive strength, bulk for bulk, rather than of its chemi- 
cal elements. 

Eight cords of good stable manure; nine cords of a 
compost made of one part night soil to two parts 
muck or loam; eight cords of muscle mud; six or 
eight cords of rotten kelp — either of these applied to 
an acre of land in good condition by previous high 
cultivation would be sufficient for a good crop of Car- 
rots. Other manures might be mentioned, but these 
will serve as a pretty good measure of value for any 
kind accessible to farmers in general. To produce a 
very large crop, such as one would like to be able to 
point to when premium crops are called for, add from 
one-quarter to one-half to the above quantities. The 
condition of the manure is a matter of importance; the 
stable manure should be good; not half bedding, not 
burnt, neither too coarse nor too new; the night soil 
should have been well mixed with the soil in the com- 
post heap, and have been pitched over twice with suf- 
ficient intervals between to allow it to develop some 
heat. The muscle mud should be rich in dead mus- 
cles. In all farming, it is important that the manures 
applied should be in a fine condition mechanically, 



CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS. g 

and particuarly is this true of root crops. For the 
roots of all plants can take up only such parts of the 
manures as are dissolved in water, and the firmer the 
manure is the more readily can water penetrate it. 

A man who is unfortunately short of manures can 
materially increase the capacity of what he has by work- 
ing it over until it is very fine. 

When short of a supply of animal manure, where 
the soil is already in good condition, a good fertilizer 
can be used with success. Apply fifteen hundred 
pounds to the acre. The famous fertilizer formulas 
of Prof. Stockbridge have generally done so< well I 
should be willing to try them on an acre of Carrots, 
were I short of other manures. 

There is another matter concerning our manures 
which requires attention; if they are too fresh or crude 
they will be apt, if applied to our long growing varie- 
ties, to drive the growth too much into the top of the 
Carrot, to the loss of the root, giving us tops to our 
knees with roots about the size of a hoe handle. It is 
important therefore, when used liberally, that they 
should be somewhat decomposed — that the mixtures 
should be composts, as far as the time will allow, and 
not mere mixtures. To the shorter varieties the crude 
manure may be applied with a degree of safety. Here 
let me note a fact that I think is of general application 
in farming, viz.: — that a style of manuring that will 
drive tall growing varieties of vegetables nearly all to 
tops or vine, with dwarf varieties of the same kind will 
work admirably. The Pea is a very good illustration ; 
to get a good crop of a dwarf variety, manure liber- 
ally, but the same quantity applied to the taller sorts 
would drive them excessively into vine at the expense 
of the crop. 



IO CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS. 

Don't make your compost heap on the ground 
where the crop is to grow, for the result will be no 
crop where the heap stands. For the same reason it 
is bad policy to cart out any strong manure to stand 
on the land in heaps, no matter how small, over win- 
ter. There will be nothing lost by spreading the 
manure over the surface before the ground is frozen. 
In getting it into the soil, keep it as near the surface as 
possible without its interfering with the planting of the 
seed, bearing in mind the nitrogen, that element in 
manures, about the loss of which by evaporation there 
is much uncalled for anxiety, tends to work down into 
the soil. If the manure is coarse it may be applied to 
the surface in the Fall and be deeply ploughed in, and 
in the Spring again brought to the surface by plough- 
ing equally deep, having meanwhile received the 
benefits of frost and moisture. 

In applying fertilizers keep them near the surface, 
scattering them broadcast and raking or harrowing 
in. It is better not to apply these all at once. 
Apply about two-thirds at the time of sowing, the 
remainder when the crop is about one-third grown- — 
following it with the slide hoe, which will tend to 
work it in just under the surface. In applying all fer- 
tilizers in the Spring time, it is well to do so early in 
the day, as winds are apt to rise as the day advances, 
which seriously interfere with the economical applica- 
tion and even distribution. Fertilizers tend to hasten 
the maturity of the crops to which they are applied. 
There is one condition that has a very important bear- 
ing on the cost of Carrots and all roots, viz.: — that 
both the ground and manure should be as free from 
all weed seed as possible. For this reason ground re- 
cently from the sod, the third year, provided it has 



CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS. 

been kept under a high state of cultivation, and such 
manures which from their very nature must be com- 
paratively free from the seed of weeds, such as fish 
composts, night soil, or barn manure a year old, are 
to be preferred. 

Dr. Voelcker gives the result of 10 analyses of the 
ashes of the root and 2 of the ashes of the leaves of 
the Carrot, and from these deduces the following as 
the number of pounds of mineral matter taken from 
an acre of land, by 10 tons of roots and 4 tons of tops. 
Potash, Soda, Lime, Phosphoric Acid, 

. 116 tbs. 86 lbs. 101 ibs. 31 tbs. 

Sulphuric Acid, Chlorine, 

34 lbs. 31 tbs. 

To those who desire to experiment with mineral 
manures this table will be interesting as showing the 
kinds and proportion of each needed. The potash is 
found in unleeched ashes, from two to five pounds to 
the bushel; or in the German Potash salts; the soda 
and chlorine in common salt, (chloride of sodium); 
lime in the common lime of the mason, the Phos- 
phoric acid in the phosphates offered in the markets, 
and the Sulphuric acid in that directly or in common 
finely ground plaster known by chemists as Sulphate 
of Lime. 

I shall have occasion to present some very valuable 
suggestions of the learned Professor, under the head 
of "The Manure" in my article on Mangolds, to which 
they more especially apply. 

The greatest single item in the cost of any crop is 
the manure, but this is an exceedingly varying ele- 
ment. Farmers near cities, and particularly if they 
also reside near the sea-coast, as an off-set for the 
greater cost of farming-land and expenses of living, 



j 2 CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS. 

have the advantages of a city market and special facili- 
ties for collecting manures, at a cost to them, much 
below the standard value of stable manure. Night 
soil to almost an unlimited extent can be obtained for 
the cost of collecting it, while the waste material of the 
fisheries, Kelp, Rock Weed, Muscle Mud, Glue Waste, 
Sugar House Waste, and the products of the distil- 
leries, these and other rich fertilizers can be procured 
at so low a figure, in proportion to their value, that 
root crops can be raised considerably cheaper than in 
farming districts not so favored. Many a man can be 
found in these favored districts who thinks he is mak- 
ing a good business at farming, yet could he but sell 
the manure he gathers so cheaply, at its market value, 
barn manure being the standard, he would make 
money by doing so and folding his arms the rest of 
the year. The fact is he is really losing money at 
farming;* but through his crops he is selling what cost 
him but a trifle — at a price, indeed, below its real value, 
but still so far in advance of cost as to leave a profit. 
Such a man does wisely in the course he pursues 
though he makes a mistake in the debtor and creditor 
side of the account, for it is most decidedly wiser to be 
at work than idle, though the result makes no differ- 
ence in the dollars in a man's pocket. 

PREPARING THE BED. 

The great object here should be to get the soil 
thoroughly fine that the small, thread-like fibers, and 
the roots themselves, may waste the least possible 
vital power in permeating the earth in search of food, 
or in pushing downwards. The vitality wasted in this 
way is just so much taken from growth, and may 



Carrots, mangolds an£> sugar reets. 



13 



make the sole difference between a good crop and a 
poor one. If it is necessary that the first ploughing 
should be a very deep one, better apply the manure 
(as previously stated, the liner mechanical condition 
this is in the better) afterwards. Should the manure 
be to any degree coarse after spreading, run the brush 
or wheel harrow over it, one or both. This will also 
break up the clods and fine up the soil and incorporate 
the manure with it. If still at all lumpy, follow with a 
plank drag. Next plow shallow a few furrows, and 
have men, with wooden-toothed hand rakes, rake at 
right angles, pulling- all coarse stones and lumps of 
earth and manure into the last furrow made. In brief, 
proceed to make as fine a seed bed as for onions. 

If any one, depending on the apparent fineness of 
the surface, concludes to dispense with the final rak- 
ing and let the work of the brush harrow answer, he 
will be apt to repent it before the season closes ; should 
he try it let him be sure to double the quantity of seed 
planted in that portion of the land so treated. When 
the land is loamy and free from stones an implement 
known as the "Meeker Harrow," will be found to be a 
great time-saver in preparing the seed bed; by actual 
test on my own farm, I find that it will do the work of 
more than a dozen hands with rakes. If the bed has 
its first ploughing early in the season, much of the 
weed seed will germinate before planting time, then 
an occasional use of the cultivator will destroy many 
of the pests. : 

WHEN TO PLANT. 

Some of our best farmers advocate planting about 
the middle of May, others equally successful in root 



24 CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS. 

culture claim that the middle of June is the best time. 
There are arguments for both early and late planting. 
In New England we usually have the weather suffi- 
ciently moist towards the close of May to insure the 
germination of the seed and protect the plants when 
they break ground, from "sun-scald/' Those planted 
as late as the middle of June are more liable to be so 
affected by the dry weather usual at that period as not 
to veg-etate as well; and should the heat be very great 
just after they push through the ground, sometimes 
in a single day nearly the entire crop will disappear by 
"sun-scald." But on the other hand, by planting late 
we about get rid of one weeding, assuming that the. 
ground is stirred by the cultivator occasionally, up to 
the time of planting. Again, this brings the crop in 
full vigor in October, the month of all others most fa- 
vorable for the growth of the root, and the Carrots 
being dug while the tops are in fair growing condi- 
tion, keep better than when dug fully ripe. The argu- 
ment for late planting holds especially good tor the 
Short Horn varieties, as these require a shorter time 
to mature than the long kinds. If the crop is planted 
too early, sometimes the roots, having matured, will 
attempt to push seed shoots; when this is so they will 
be found woody in their structure, with numberless 
thread-like roots, while their quality and keeping pro- 
perties are greatly injured. This crop on rich land is 
sometimes planted as late as the first week in July, 
and with great success, should the Fall prove excep- 
tionably mild, yet, as a rule, I would not recommend 
planting later than the middle of June. If it so hap- 
pens, from press of work, or the dry weather, the 
farmer has to plant later than this, then by all means 
let him confine himself to the earlier varieties. 



CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS. 

THE SEED AND THE PLANTING OF IT. 

The seed grows with a covering of small, short, stiff 
hairs, which makes them adhere together; these must 
be very thoroughly removed before the seed can be 
relied upon to flow freely from the machine. Much of 
foreign grown seed reaches this country not properly 
cleaned. To remove this furze, either thrash the seed 
with the flail very thoroughly, when the weather is 
quite cold and dry, or warm the seed slightly and rub 
it with the hand against the wires of a sieve, of a right 
degree of fineness to let the hairs fall through. Either 
winnow or sink in water, to remove all impurities. If 
sunk, be careful to dry the seed at a very moderate 
temperature. As Carrot seed vegetates somewhat 
slowly and the plants are quite small when they first 
appear, weeds are apt to get the start of them before 
the rows can be seen with sufficient distinctness to 
make it safe to use the slide hoe. For this reason 
some farmers practice soaking the seed in water and 
keeping it at a temperature that will nearly develop the 
sprout, before planting. This may be done by soak- 
ing the seed from 36 to 48 hours in milk warm, or 
rather strong manure water, then removing it to 
where the air is of about the same temperature. Stir, 
it slightly for a few days, and finally dry it sufficiently 
to drop freely from the machine by adding plaster, 
charcoal or dust. Camphor has a wonderful effect in 
stimulating the vitality of seed, and the addition of a 
small quantity of it to the manure water would doubt- 
less be of advanage. This process should not be car- 
ried so far as to develop the sprout. Should the sur- 
face of the ground be very dry when the seed is sown, 
this soaking process may be fatal, for if the germ is 



j/t OAltllOTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS. 

once started it will not live in a dormant state; it must 
either grow or die: whereas, seed that have not 
been soaked will vegetate after rains wet the dry sur- 
face. Be sure that the seed planter has a good roller 
attached to it, and not a mere coverer, as this will help 
confine the moisture and thus materially aid in de- 
veloping the seed. 

QUANTITY OF SEED TO THE ACRE. 

Tables vary greatly some advising as high as four 
pounds to the acre. If the design is to raise small- 
sized roots for early marketing, possibly this might 
not be an excess of seed, but to advise so heavy seed- 
ing for ordinary field crops, means that much of the 
seed is poor trash, probably old and worthless, and 
put in as a make-weight. 

Some years ago a party wrote me, offering a variety 
of garden seed at a very low figure, and stated that it 
was of his own raising. As it was a kind that I was in 
the habit of raising, 1 had the curiosity to write and 
ask how he could afford to raise it at such a price. He 
replied that it was of his own growing, but so old as 
to be good for nothing", and therefore he sold it to 
seedsmen at a very low figure, to mix with their good 
.seed to help make weight! When four pounds of Car- 
rot seed are advised to the acre, for a .field crop, 1 
think that some of this kind of seed must somehow 
have got into the mixture. With everything fa- 
voring, and the farmer by experience having his seed 
sower under perfect control, rather less than a pound 
of seed will be sufficient for an acre. The great object 
to aim at is, while having the plants thick enough, not 
to have much of any thinning to do, as it costs about 
as much to thin a crop as it does to weed it, with the 



CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS. j ~ 

drawback that the plants left in the ground are more 
or less started, and so put back by the thinning. As a 
general rule I would advise one and one-half pounds 
of seed to the acre, and this the farmer can reduce in 
proportion as he is favored by circumstances and ad- 
vances in experience. 

Twelve inches is a sufficient distance between the 
rows of the two small, early varieties, and fifteen be- 
tween the rows of all other sorts. With the greatest 
of care the seed will not come up with mathematical 
precision. Some advocate leaving a plant to about 
every inch of row ; others, to thin to four inches apart. 
With the exception of the shorter variety including 
the Guerande, which are somewhat like Onions in 
their aptitude to grow to a good size when crowded, 
pushing out either side of the rows, as a rule I advise 
thinning to four inches, leaving them thicker near 
the vacant places. 

VARIETIES, AND WHAT KINDS TO GROW. 

Foreign catalogues give lists of about two dozen 
varieties, which differ in earliness, size, color, form, 
termination of root, characteristic of growing entirely 
under or partly above ground, and in the size of the 
core or heart. In foreign catalogues, what we call 
"Orange/' are known as "Red" Carrots. From a test 
of these varieties I have thus far found two, viz.: : he 
Guerande and the Chantenay worthy of being added 
to the kinds already grown to a greater or less extent 
in the United States. The yellow-fleshed sorts are 
repudiated in New England by general consent; yet 
the Yellow Belgian, on a limited trial has proved with 
me to be an exceptionally good keeper. The Purple 
or Blood-Red is of a deep purple color, a poor cropper 



jg CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND. SUGAR BEETS. 

and by no means attractive to the eye. The remain- 
ing- varieties may be classed as follows :-^Early, mid- 
dling early and late. The first class is made up of the 
Early Very Short Scarlet, the Early Scarlet Horn and 
Guerande. The second class of all the half-long or 
short-horn varieties, and the third, of the long varie- 
ties, such as Long Orange, Belgian and Altringham 
sorts. 

In addition to about one-half of these foreign varie- 
ties, cultivated more or less generally in this country, 
there are several kinds catalogued by seedsmen, all 
of which are but improved strains made by careful 
selections", through a series of years, from what was 
originally imported stock. These strains usually bear 
the name of some person. A brief discussion of the 
more valuable varieties will now be in order. Here I 
will lay down three general facts, viz.: — 1st, that of 
the various orange colored varieties, the shorter 
growing kinds are, as a rule, the darker colored and 
sweeter flavored. 2d, that the proportion of dark, 
orange-colored roots in any crop, while it will depend 
largely on the care that has been used in the selection 
of seed stock for a series of years, does not turn 
wholly on this, but soil, season or manure, one or all, 
have some influence in this direction. 3d, that the 
fact that more or less of the Carrots tend to push seed 
shoots the first year, while with the long varieties it 
may prove that the seed has been allowed to mix with 
the wild varieties, yet the probability (marked cases 
excepted) is decidedly the other way; while with the 
short horn varieties this tendency to push seed shoots 
the first season, so as to make something of a show 
when an acre is glanced over, is quite a common 
characteristic with seed of the very purest strain. 



CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR RKETS. 



*9 




EARLY VERY EARLY SHORT 
SHORT SCARLET. SCARLET. 



SHORT HORN. 



LONG ORANGE. 



Early Very Short Scarlet; ( see engraving.) 
Early Short Scarlet Horn ( see engraving). These 
two varieties are the shortest grown and are raised 
at times in forcing beds, for an early market, the 
former very generally so. They are of a very rich 
orange color, fine-grained, sweet, and of excellent 
flavor, heading the list for quality. Their rich color 
makes them valuable above all other kinds for color- 
ing- butter. Though quite short, yet the Early Short 
Scarlet Horn can be grown to yield a great bulk of 
roots, from the fact that from the smallness of their 
tops the roots can be grown very thick, two or three 
abreast all along the rows. When the small, handy 
size of this variety is considered in connection with 



20 



CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS. 



the superior quality, it stands foremost as a table Car- 
rot, and I therefore recommend it in preference to all 
others for family use. 

Short Horn. (S ee engraving.) This variety inter- 
mediate between the Early Forcing and Long 
Orange, with but slight variations in form, is shown 
under various names, as Intermediate, Nantes, Half 
Long, James' Improved, Stump-Rooted, etc. It is 
characterized by a darker color than the average of 
the Long Orange, finer grain, and a sweeter and 
richer flavor. In part from the more solid structure 
of the Carrot, and in part from its better stowage, 
thirty-six measured bushels of this variety make a ton, 
while of the larger varieties forty bushels are required. 
The best strain of this variety is doubtless the kind 
known as the "Danvers" Carrot. 

Danvers Carrot. i n the town of Danvers, Mass., 
the raising of Carrots on an extensive scale has for 
years been quite a business — the farmers finding a 
large market in the neighboring cities of Salem, Lynn 
and Boston. After years of experimenting they set- 
tled upon a variety which originated among them (as 
did the Danvers Onion) known in their locality as the 
"Danvers Carrot.'' It is in form about midway be- 
tween the Long Orange and Short Horn class, grow- 
ing very generally with a stump root. The great 
problem in Carrot growing is to get the greatest bulk 
with the smallest length of root, and this is what the 
Danvers' growers have attained in their Carrot. Un- 
der their cultivation they raise from twenty to forty 
tons to the acre. This Carrot is of a rich, dark orange 
in color, very smooth and handsome, and from its 
length, is easier to dig than the Long Orange. It is 
a first-class Carrot for any soil. 



CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR REETS. 



21 



Ghierande or Ox Heart. This variety is a great fa- 
vorite with many who raise Carrots for stock. It is 




GUERANDE CARROT. 




short and chunky in 
build, of a rich orange 
color, and of excellent 
quality, and the crop 
can be hand pulled. 
Long 1 Orange, or Long 

Surry. This is a stand- 
ard variety, and in its 
various strains is doubt- 
less more generally 
grown than any other 
kind. The chief objec- 
tion to it is the depth to 
which it penetrates the 
ground, and hence the 
extra work of digging 
it; while the end of 
the root which causes the extra work is of inferior 
quality when compared with the body, differing in 



IMPROVED 
LONG ORANGE. 




DANVEIIS 
CARROT. 



22 



CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS. 



this respect from the shorter varieties, which are of 
the same quality throughout. The heart is larger in 
proportion than in the shorter varieties, which is con- 
sidered an objection. The keeping properties are ex- 
■ g m** ; %, ;> cellent, and in this respect it is 

superior to the earlier kinds. On 
light soil the roots grow long, 
straight and make a fine show in 
the market. 

Altringham. This is a Carrot 
of excellent quality for the table, 
the flesh being of a rich orange 
color, crisp and sweet, *but as a 
cropper it is inferior to the Inter- 
mediate or Long Orange varie- 
ties, and hence is but little cul- 
vated. 

Large White Belgian. This is 

the largest of all varieties and will 
yield at least a quarter more than 
any other sort. The roots grow 
several inches out of ground, and 
all can be readily pulled by the 
hand. Analysis shows that it is 
nearly as sweet as the Mangold 
Wurtzel, rather sweeter than the 
Swede Turnip, and about two 
thirds as sweet as the Sugar Beet. 
The two objections to it are its 
color and its keeping properties; 
it being rather a poor keeper, 
while the color has made it a car- 
rot for horses rather than cows. 
If farmers have but a small quantity of manure, the 



LARGE WHITE BEL- 
GIAN. 



CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS. 2 \ 

White Belgian is a good variety for them to raise for 
feeding early in the winter. 



THE CULTIVATION, AND THE IMPLE- 
MENTS NEEDED. 

Just as soon as the young plants can be detected 
breaking round, the prudent farmer will push the slide 
hoe, and have his boy weeders follow immediately 
after it on hands and knees. Boys that have had a lit- 
tle experience, with their nimble fingers can do more 
work than men, while their wages are only about half 
as much. On the sea-coast we hire boys who make a 
business of weeding, for from seventy-five cents to a 
dollar a day. The one great danger in hiring boys is 
that careless ones are apt to break off the weeds in- 
stead of pulling them up by the roots. To ascertain 
their comparative faithfulness, it is well to quietly 
mark a few rows of the different weeders, at their first 
weeding, and by the time for the second weeding the 
difference between a good and a bad one will be very 
plainly visible. 

Don't accept that theory of the shiftless man, that it 
is well to have the weeds grow pretty tall before the 
first weeding, that the plants may be protected from 
he sun. I have noticed that oftentimes those who act 
on this theory give over their weeding, and plough up 
the bed before they have half finished it. Promptness 
in the first hoeing and weeding is exceedingly im- 
portant in the management of all root crops, and it is 
where the greatest mistake is apt to be made in their 
cultivation. 



24 



CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS. 



There are a few implements that 




SLIDE HOE. 



are specially 
needed in 
the culti- 
vation of 
root crops, 
and of 
these, 
attainable, 
the Hand 



every wise farmer will get the very best 
These implements are the Seed Sower, 
Weeder, the Slide Hoe, the common Wheel Hoe, 
and one for weeding both sides of a row at the same 
time. Of these there are a great many varieties, each 
of which are more or less popular among a class of 
growers. The engravings illustrate such as are in use 
in my own section of country, where root culture 
forms a very important part of the agriculture of farm- 
ers. Both the slide and the wheel hoe, for rapid work, 
far surpass the common hand hoe, while they cut up 

the weeds 
e q u a .1 1 y 
clear. The 
double 
wheel hoe 
is used un- 
til the tops 
of the 
crops be- 
come so large as to be in the way, when the 
single wheel hoe or slide hoe takes its place. Fuller's 
Unique Hoe having a single wheel is preferred, to any 
double wheeled implement by many g-ardeners, es- 
pecially so by reason of its stiffness. Each should be 
two inches narrower than the space between the rows. 
A slide hoe is an amazing handy implement about a 




WHEEL HOE. 



CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS. 



25 




farm for many uses other than between the rows of 
root crops. A 
new class of 
i mpl ements 
have been in- 
troduced with- 
in a few years 
which, to a de- 
gree, supersede 
the use of the 
common wheel 
or slide hoe, 
though there is 
yet a valuable mcgee cultivator. 

sphere for each of them; I refer to the weeders which 
cut each side of the row at the same time I have tested 
every variety of these and have found nothing now in 
the market superior to the McGee Garden Cultivator. 
These hoes which take each side of the row at once 
cannot safely be made to go over the ground as fast as 
those designed for use between the rows, but working 
close home to the growing crop, they save a large 
portion of the cost 
of hard weeding. 
Of seed drills there 
are a dozen or 
more in the mar- 
ket, several of 
which I have used 
on my farms. Michigan seed sower. 

I prefer the Michigan over all others. Among 
other advantages it can be relied upon to drop 
almost any variety of small seed, while it is a good 




26 



CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS. 



coverer and having" a roller attached, it packs the 

earth over the 
seed, which, as 
every farmer 
knows, tends to 
keep the moisture 
in and thus hast- 
ens their germi- 
nation. The hand 
weeder is an ex- 
itate the laborious 
the surface is baked 




LANG'S 

HAND 

WEEDER 

TOOL 



PrePaid 



LANG'S HAND WEEDER. 

cellent little implement to facil 
work of weeding, especially when 
and therefore rather hard on the 



fingers. 



GATHERING AND STORING THE CROP. 

One of the greatest outlays attending the raising 
of Carrots is in the gathering and topping of the crop. 
The common process of digging with a fork and 
throwing into piles to be afterwards topped is labor- 
ious and costly. Where the crop is to be consumed on 
the farm. The labor and consequent cost may be 
greatly lessened by first cutting off the tops by a 
sharp shovel, spade or common hoe, or a slide hoe 
which has been weighed by a piece of lead pipe, or 
some similar heavy article, slid down the handle and 
fastened where that unites with the hoe. Should a 
slice be taken off the tops of the roots it will do no 
harm, as Carrots differ in this respect from other 
roots, in that, when the tops are cut they are not apt 
to rot; indeed, some practice cutting off a slice of the 
top when topping, to keep them from sprouting so 
readily when stored. The common way of gathering 
the crop, by loosening with spades or forks and then 



CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS. ~« 

pulling- out by the tups, throwing into heaps or scat- 
tering over the ground and afterwards topping with a 
knife, is a long and eostly job. An improvement on 
digging is to run a plough close to the row and then 
pull out as many as possible by hand and dig up the 
remainder. Still a better course particularly when 
the Danvers variety is grown, is beginning in the mid- 
dle of the piece, to run a subsoil plough close home 
to the roots, when, if run sufficiently deep it will lift 
the Carrots a little out of the ground. Follow with 
forks or hoes and draw the roots inward on the 
ploughed portion, so far as to give room for the horse 
to walk. Let the roots remain a few hours scattered 
over the surface, w T ben in picking up and tossing them 
into carts or baskets, any earth adhering will be jarred 
off. 

Let the crop remain out as late .as it can be risked 
without freezing; and if they are in good growing 
condition this will be well towards November, in the 
latitude of central New England, and even into the 
first week of that month in the milder temperature of 
the sea-coast. Roots not fully matured will keep bet- 
ter than those fully ripe when dug, on the principle 
that the varieties of apples we call "winter" apples are 
simply those kinds that do not ripen on the tree — 
they are not winter apples, because they are Baldwins, 
or Greenings, for these same kinds in the South where 
the ripening season is longer, are Fall apples. If the 
Carrots have been planted too early they will ripen be- 
fore digging, and be apt to send out roots and prove 
poor keepers, besides losing the advantage of October 
weather which is the Carrot month, doing more for 
the weight of the late planted crop than all the season 
besides. 



2 8 CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS. 

Rake the tops off the bed but do not waste them, 
for they are highly relished by animals, and if the Car- 
rots are harvested when they ougiit to be, to keep 
well, that is, when in good growing condition, there 
will be a great weight of tops, sometimes as high as a 
quarter of the weight of roots ; and this mass of green 
fodder, coming at a time when the fields are usually 
bare of grasses, will prove very valuable and accept- 
able food for the cows. 

In storing, one fact must be borne in mind; that 
Carrots will heat, sprout and rot, under circumstances 
in which Mangolds would keep sound and uninjured. 
I have several times lost quantities when buried in 
the ground where Mangolds and common table Beets, 
under precisely the same conditions, have kept per- 
fectly sound. If the crop is to be fed at once, they may 
be dumped into the cellar or barn floor in the most ex- 
peditious way ; but if to be fed into the winter, then all 
depth of the heap above two and a half feet means a 
proportionate increase of danger of heating, sprouting 
and rotting, and so much greater care to air the cellar 
in cool, dry weather. I need hardly state that cellars 
for keeping Carrots and all roots should be free from 
standing water, and as cool as possible without 
actually freezing. They should not be put directly on 
the cellar floor, but on a platform to admit air 
under them and it is an excellent plan to scatter a lit- 
tle sand among them. I find that Carrots keep ex- 
ceedingly well if poured (not placed.) in a trench 14 
inches wide and 21-2 feet deep, to be covered slightly 
at first and more as cold increases, so that they have 
first a little coarse litter, then a foot of earth, and on 
this about 18 inches of waste or cheap hay. When the 
roots are large they will keep sufficiently better to pay 



CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS. 2Q 

for the extra trouble, if they are piled "heads and 
points" to the height of two and a half feet, with a 
slight space for air between tne piles. If there are not 
cellar conveniences for storing the entire crop, with a 
good protection of hay under and around them, a few 
tons may be stored, for early feeding, in the barn, pro- 
vided it is not so cold as to freeze them. 



RAISING CARROTS WITH ONIONS. 

I transfer from my Treatise on Onions, a paragraph 
relative to growing Carrots with onions. 

The plan of raising Carrots with onions is con- 
sidered an improvement by some who have adopted it, 
as the yield of Carrots is thought to be clear gain, 
diminishing but little or none the yield of onions. 
Carrots are planted in two ways ; one by sowing them 
in drills between every other row of onions, and the 
other, which is considered an improvement, called the 
Long Island plan, by planting the onions in hills from 
seven to eight inches from center to center, dropping 
a number of seed in each hill, and from the first to the 
twelfth of June, planting the Carrot seed, usually by 
hand, between these hills in two rows then skipping 
one, and thus on through the piece. The onions, as 
they are pulled are thrown into every third row, the 
Carrots being left to mature. By his method from 
two to six hundred bushels of Carrots are raised per 
acre in addition to the crop of onions. More manure 
is required for the two crops than for the onions alone. 

The machine used for sowing in drills has two 
boxes attached to the axle at equi-distance from the 
wheels; there are three or four holes in the axle that 
communicate with the seed in the boxes, and as these 



o CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS. 

holes pass under the boxes they are filled with seed, 
and as they turn the seed are dropped into the earth. 
Screws are sunk into the holes, which can be sunk 
more or less at pleasure, and the quantity of seed 
which the holes will contain is thus graded. 

The machine should first be tested, and so regulated 
that on a barn floor it will drop from eleven to twelve : 
seed from each hole. When so regulated, on using- in 
the field it will drop but from seven to twelve, owing 
to the more uneven motion. 

MARKETING AND FEEDING. 

In the cities there is a large market for Carrots as 
feed for horses, it being very generally accepted that 
a few given daily or every other day, aids the diges- 
tion of grain-fed animals, adds to the gloss of the hair, 
and are of special medicinal value. The largest, 
smoothest and darkest orange colored roots sell the 
best in the market. The price varies all the way from 
ten to twenty dollars a ton of 2,000 pounds, depending 
in part on the value of hay. Where the quantity fed 
daily is small, a large knife or a shovel will answer to 
cut them up in pieces of suitable size; but if the quan- 
tity amounts to several bushels daily, then a root-cut- 
ter will be needed. There are two classes of these, 
one for sheep, and the other 'for large stock, the essen- 
tial difference being that those designed to cut roots 
for sheep cut into smaller pieces. Of those designed 
to cut roots for large stock, the Whittemore machine 
is as good a machine as any, having a capacity to cut 
up a bushel in about half a minute. Among farmers 
there is much unnecessary fear about the danger of 
animals choking'while feeding on apples, potatoes and 



CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS. ^ T 

roots. For the last ten years I have fed to my cows 
not far from three hundred tons of squashes, potatoes 
and roots, (mostly squashes) and never yet lost an ani- 
mal or had any very serious trouble from choking. 
My habit is to feed them while quietly in their stalls, 
with a division board between the feed of each. All 
cases of choking- that have come to my notice have 
occurred where the animal was suddenly disturbed while 
eating. There is a great difference of opinion as to 
how many roots can be fed to stock daily without in- 
juring them. The proportion will depend somewhat 
on the constitutional peculiarities of individual cows, 
but when the bowels are all right the appetite of the 
animal is probably the safest guide. I have had a 
large and extended experience in feeding squashes to 
milch cows, — the Boston Marrow, Hubbard and 
other varieties > beginning with a half a bushel to 
each animal, I increase the quantity until the daily 
consumption has averaged a hundred pounds a day 
to each. Under such heavy feeding, after a while 
their appetites clog somewhat, but I am inclined to 
the opinion that beginning with a moderate feed, they 
would soon readily eat seventy-five pounds daily with 
a relish, for as long a period as they might last. 
When feeding Carrots or any roots, the most eco- 
nomical method is to give meadow or salt hay, with a 
small quantity of flax-seed or cotton-seed meal. The 
effect of the roots and these rich meals is to give to 
these inferior varieties of hay, the nutritious value of 
the best upland Englsh. 

Carrots fed too liberally to horses, will make 
them soft, and cause them to sweat at the least exer- 
tion. The manure made by animals fed on Carrots or 
any other roots is of poor quality and therefore for 



00 CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS. 

the farm's (as well as the animal's) sake a proportion 
of grain, or its equivalent, should always be fed with 
them. 



MANGOLD WURTZELS. 



What is a Mangold Wurtzel? A number of years 
ago I raised a piece of Early Turnip Beet seed in a 
very isolated location; there was not another piece of 
Beet seed growing within half a mile, at least. A 
good deal of the seed wasted, as is usual when the 
seed is allowed to ripen well on the stock before cut- 
ting. From this waste seed thousands of young plants 
sprang up, many of which survived the winter, by the 
help of the protection of chickweed and snow. They 
had got so far along when ploughing time came, I left 
the piece unploughed, thinning them out that they 
might produce early beets. As the season advanced a 
good many of them pushed seed shoots and ripened 
a crop of seed. Some of the seed I gathered and the 
next season planted it to see what it would produce. 
The crop was "everything;'' all the way from a nice, 
dark colored Early Turnip Beet, through different 
sizes, colors and forms, up to a light-fleshed Mangold 
Wurtzel! As the original Beets were a very pure 



CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS. ^ ^ 

Turnip Beet, and during' several years of careful cul- 
tivation for seed purposes had shown no admixture 
with any other variety, the experiment proved either 
that the coarse variety of Stock Beet, which we call 
Mangold Wurtzel are but sports from our fine- 
grained table Beets, or that the Beets class are sports 
from Mangolds, — most probably the former. 

Mangold Wurtzels differ from table Beets in their 
general coarseness of structure, and the larger size to 
which they grow, the elements which enter into the 
composition of each being the same in kind. 

What is a Sugar Beet? The term "Sugar Beef is 
an unfortunate one, as the word "Sugar" had already 
been appropriated to express the sweet flavor of the 
varieties of Beets raised for table use, while the word 
Beet is strictly a misnomer, the vegetable Sugar Beet 
being in reality a Mangold Wurtzel. A generation 
ago our fathers used the term "Sugar" as a familiar 
designation for any sweet variety of beet raised for 
table use, and at the present by the great majority of 
the public the term is still so used. As the new in- 
dustry of manufacturing sugar from the beet grew on 
the continent of Europe, seedsmen were called upon 
to supply for commerce seed of the best variety for 
this purpose. It was necessary that this variety should 
be as free as possible from all coloring substance as 
this would, as a matter of course, give a stain to the 
juice, and impose on the manufacturer the labor of 
purifying it. The ones at first selected were the long, 
white Mangold Wurtzel, and these were called the 
"Sugar" Beet in commercial parlance. These white 
Mangolds were not entirely white, the portion that 
grew above ground being usually colored a light 
green by exposure to the sun's rays; it became there- 



~a CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS. 

fore an object for the manufacturer to still improve on 
them to the end that all the coloring should be elimi- 
nated. The intelligence and enterprise of the seeds- 
men of Europe responded to this want, and in the 
course of a few years two prominent varieties were 
produced, that have nearly completely satisfied it, — 
one of these was sent out by the estimable house of 
Vilmorin Andrieux & Co., of Paris, and is named 
"Viimoriri's New Improved White," and the other 
"White Imperial Extra,'' by the distinguished Ger- 
man house of Ernest Benary. 

These improved Sugar Beets of commerce grow 
nearly entirely under ground, and when grown these 
beets define themselves to be the Mangold variety, by 
the coarser structure of the root, the stouter ribs and 
the greater coarseness of the leaves, which spring m 
larger masses directly from the crown, than is the case 
with beets for the table. 

The moral of all this for my farmer friends is, that 
if you want a beet for table use do not order "Sugar 
Beet" or you will be very likely to find a Mangold 
growing in your garden, a return, but not a recom- 
pense for the sweat and toil of the husbandman. 

VARIETIES. 

About twenty varieties are catalogued by seeds- 
men, many of which are but strains of the same kind, 
bearing the name of the grower, who by careful cul- 
tivation has endeavored to improve it. Classified by 
form they come under three classes, viz. : — the long, 
the round and the ovoid or intermediate varieties. 
Classified by color we have the red or scarlet, the 
pink, the yellow or orange, and the white varieties. 



CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS. 



35 




The Long Varieties.— Among the more prominent of 
these are the Ox Horn, the common Long- Red, 
Norbition Giant, Carter's Orange Globe, and the 
Silesian varieties of Sugar Beet. 
The Ox Horn is a very crooked 
growing variety, as its name 
would imply, with a small di- 
ameter in proportion to its great 
length. Growing almost wholly 
out of ground it curves about so 
in the row as to be decidedly in 
the way, is apt to break when 
pulled and in addition to these 
defects, storing very badly, it is 
not in any way desirable. The 
Norbiton Giant, Long Red, Gate 
Post, and Tankard are improve- 
ments over the common Long 
Red in a greater uniformity in 
their habit of growth, their size, 
and a less liability to grow hol- 
low at the top at the advanced 
stage of growth. 

The Round Varieties. — In these 
are included the common Red 
and Yellow Globe, Gate Post and 
Tankard, with some of the under- 
ground varieties of the Sugar 
Beet. 



•v-:, 



LONG RED MANGOLD. 



Ovoid are either red or yellow 
in color and are intermediate in 
form between the long and the round kinds. 

What Kinds to Grow.— I n this country the Long Red 



..£ CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS. 

are the most popular, particularly the Norbiton Giant 

variety. While travelling 
in England, Ireland and 
France, for inquiry and 
observation, I found that 
the round and ovid varie- 
ties were more generally 
cultivated than the long 
sorts. In my experience 
the ovoid varieties incline 
to grow smoother than 
the long kinds and hence 
are likely to bring up less 
earth with them, which on 
heavy soil is a matter of 
some moment. I think of 
the two kinds the yellow, 
under the same circum- 
stances, makes the larger 
root. The long varieties 
pile better in the cellar, 
while the round or ovoids 
cut up rather more readily, appear less inclined to rot 
at the top, and are firmer fleshed. The globe and ovid 
varieties appear to be best adapted to hard and shal- 
low soils, and of these the Yellow Globe anct Ovoid 
are especially valuable, as they are better keepers than 
most sorts and remain sound, without sprouting, until 
late into the spring, and with special care may be kept 
even into the summer season. 

The long Silesian varieties of Sugar Beet vary from 
each other only in the color of the part exposed above 
ground, — being green, grey or red. The kind intro- 




OVOID MANGOLD. 



CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS. 



37 



duced to the American public a lew years ago, under 
the name of Lane's Improved American Sugar Beet, 
is a strain of Long White Mangold. The improved 
varieties of Germany and France yield about double 
the percentage of sugar that is found in the common 

Mangold, in some crops the 
proportion being as high as 
sixteen per cent. This would 
make the Sugar Beets of 
double the value of Man- 
golds for stock, but unfortu- 
nately, the roots under like 
. conditions of 
average but half 
of Mangolds. 

The average 
of sugar found in analysis of 
beets grown in this country 
is exceptionably high. Hav- 
ing land free from alkalies, 
of unbounded fertility, read- 
ily accessible, and atainable 
at almost nominal cost, it is a serious question why 
we do not follow the example of other countries and 
raise our own sugar rather than import it. Our in- 
ducement is the home market that the sugar factory 
would afford for unlimited areas of beets, while the re- 
fuse pulp would enable farmers to increase greatly 
the number of their neat stock, to the advantage of 
the manure pile and enlargement of their area of till- 
age. The great draw back is the price of labor in our 
own prosperous country. 




cultivation, 
the weight 



percentage 



GLOBE MAXGOLD. 



og CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS. 

THE SOIL AND ITS PREPARATION. 

In the matter of soil, Mangold Wurtzels will accept 
a greater latitude than any other root; thriving on 
every variety, all the way from light loam to muck, 
and from that to as strong* a clay as is sufficiently fria- 
ble for tillage. Muck (properly drained) and a strong 
loam are best suited to develop pounds of crop. 
Though the crop grown in the lighter soil is not so 
great it is much sweeter than when grown on heavy 
soil and when extraordinary quantities of manure 
have been applied, some of the heaviest crops on 
record have been grown on light loam. The great 
crop of Mr. Fearing of Hingham, of over sixty tons 
to the acre, was raised on a sandy loam. Some years 
ago I took a purchaser into 1 the field where two lots of 
Mangolds were growing; he selected at once the large 
roots on the low land. I asked him to taste a slice of 
those on the upland, when he at once changed his 
preference. As a rule it will be found that those 
grown on warm upland soil are decidedly the sweeter 
and this fact has an important bearing on the feeding 
value of the crop. 

If the soil is in good heart for a foot in depth, 
plough it to that depth before putting on the manure. 
After putting on the manure, if coarse, it will be well 
to cut it up with Randall's wheel-harrow before 
ploughing under. After cross ploughing the manure 
four or five inches beneath the surface the aim should 
be to make a good seed bed by getting the surface 
level and the soil light and fine. On most soils this 
can be accomplished by a liberal use of the wheel- 
harrow followed by a fine-toothed smoothing harrow 
and that by a plank drag. An old barn door will 



CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR REETS. ^g 

sometimes answer for this, but as it is an excellent im- 
plement on the farm it will be well to have one. It 
should be about three feet wide and six long, with one 
side about ten inches high, meeting the bottom at an 
angle of forty-five degrees; the planks had better over- 
lap slightly, as they will the better break the lumps of 
earth. The team is to be hitched to the turned up 
side, and the driver is to stand on the drag, driving 
it sideways over the land. The effect of such a drag 




MEEKER HARROW. 

in breaking up lumps and generally pulverizing the 
soil, will be found to be much superior to that of any 
roller. Should the soil be of such a character or in 
such a condition that the harrow and drag process 
will not make a good seed bed, there remains no re- 
source other than to prepare it as for onions, either 
raking over the entire surface, or running over it three 
or more times with the Meeker Harrow. 

THE MANURE AND ITS APPLICATION. 

The kind and quantities of food needed to grow any 
vegetables is found by an analysis of that vegetable. 
Having thus learned the kind and quantity needed for 
any crop, the next step of the wise farmer will be to 
ascertain what manures contain the necessary consti- 
tuents and which of these contain them in the cheap- 
est form. A little knowledge of Chemistry, in its ap- 
plication to manures, is of incalculable value to the 
husbandman and no amount of experience and tradi- 
tonary knowledge can serve as a substitute for it. I be- 



^q CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS. 

lieve that it is in this direction that the great advance 
in agriculture will be made, and were there no other 
argument for Agricultural colleges the fact that they 
are prepared to give thorough instruction in this one 
department would be a sufficient reason for their ex- 
istence, and for their liberal patronage by their sev- 
eral states. Prof. Voelcker, an excellent authority in 
everything that pertains to chemistry, in its applica- 
tion to agriculture, gives the following table as the 
average composition of the ash of the principal root 
crops. 



AVERAGE COMPOSITION OF THE ASH OF 


ROOTS. 






O oj 

Sh * 

si 


w 
O 


o 
w 


6 
B 

3 




4-i 
© o 

o 


o 
Ph 


o 

Is 


O 

53 


6 

.5 
o 

S 

o 


TURNIPS. 


38 


49.8 


7.8 


11.7 


2.6 


0.9 


10.3 


11.8 


1.2 


5.0 


SWEDES. 


7 


38.9 


14.0 


12.8 


4.2 


0.8 


10.4 


13.7 


1.9 


4.2 


MANGOLDS. 


12 


46.6 


18.4 


5.9 


4.8 


0.8 


8.3 


3.7 


4.0 


9.9 


SUGAR BEET. 


40 


48.0 


10.4 


6.4 


9.5 


1.0 


14.4 


4.7 


3.8 


2.3 


CARROTS. 


10 


37.0 


20.7 


10.9 


5.2 


1.0 


11.2 


6.9 


2.0 


4.9 


PARSNIPS. 


4 


46.7 


2.7 


15.7 


6.0 


1.3 


15.8 


5.6 


2.4 


4.0 








LEA 


F ASH. 










TURNIPS. 


37 


27.6 


5.1 


33.2 


2.6 


2.0 


7.3 


13.1 


35 


7.7 


SWEDES. 


3 


21.9 


12.3 


30.2 


3.2 


2.0 


6.4 


10.6 


4.8 


11.0 


MANGOLDS. 


4 


25.5 


23.3 


10.4 


9.7 


1.2 


5.4 


7.2 


3.3 


17.8 


SUGAR BEET. 


7 


21.9 


16.6 


19.5 


18.1 


1.3 


7.3 


7.9 


3.1 


5.7 


CARROTS. 


7 


17.6 


18.2 


32.1 


3.9 


3.0 


3.8 


8.2 


5.2 


8.9 



This table shows us that the Mangolds require the 
mineral ingredients of manure in the following order, 
when arranged with reference to their importance :- - 
Potash, Soda, Chlorine, Lime, Phosphoric Acid, 
Magnesia, Sulphuric Acid, Silica. In addition to 



CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS. *^ 

these minerals other substances enter into the com- 
position of Mangolds, the most important of which is 
Nitrogen. Barn-yard manure contains about all the 
elements needed by vegetation, but not always in the 
right proportion, therefore, when applying it, it is 
always profitable to know the proportions of the min- 
erals which enter into crops that the deficiency may 
be supplied from other sources. It is perhaps hardly 
necessary to say that unleached wood ashes and the 
German Potash Salts, Sulphate and Muriate, are the 
cheapest sources for Potash at present known, while 
Soda and Chlorine are obtained from Muriate of Pot- 
ash or from the waste salt of the fisheries. Of this I 
shall have more to say presently when treating of salt 
as an auxiliary fertilizer. Lime is. obtained form the 
common Carbonate of Lime of the mason, either 
water or air slacked, and this usually contains more 
or less of Magnesia, or from wood ashes which is 
largely one-third lime. The great source of Phos- 
phoric Acid is the bones of animals or corprolites, by 
which is meant the fossilized bones and dung of ex- 
tinct animals; Sulphuric Acid is most cheaply ob- 
tained from Plaster, which is Sulphate of Lime. 

Some hold great benefit is derived by the crop of 
the following year, from ploughing under the leaves 
as soon as the roots are topped; the value of this is 
just what the analyses of our table shows. The large 
crops reported as raised in this country, have been 
raised on soil ranging from light to a friable clay 
loam and have received all the way from eight to fif- 
teen cords of barn-yard manure to the acre. In some 
instances this has been all ploughed in; in others half 
spread broadcast and ploughed in and the other half 
put in the furrows. When coarse and unfermented I 



.,-, CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS. 

would advise a deep ploughing of it under, in the Fall 
as with Carrots; other waste substances can be used as 
substitutes for barn-yard manure, care being taken 
either that such waste substances are specially rich in 
Potash, Soda and Chlorine, or that these substances 
be added. The equivalents given are roughly esti- 
mated under the article treating of the manure for 
Carrots and will be sufficient for practical purposes; 
I therefore make no- further allusions to these cheap 
wastes as sources for manure, further than to mention 
that sea manures are specially rich in potash and" soda. 
Of all roots Mangolds are the rankest feeders, re- 
moving more plant food from the soil than any other 
root crop. The crop of Mr. Albert Fearing, of Hing- 
ham, Mass., was sixty tons of roots, and if the tops 
were in the usual proportion, of about one-third, they 
weighed twenty tons more, giving the enormous yield 
of eighty tons of green food from one acre of ground. 
The crop raised on Deer Island, in Boston harbor, 
was about seventy tons to the acre; with a like pro- 
portion of tops the total yield must have been over a 
hundred tons. In the sewage farms of England eighty 
tons of roots have been raised on an acre of ground. 
Fearing applied fifteen cords of manure to his acre of 
ground; of the quantity applied to the Deer Island 
crop I regret I have not the data at hand. 

If the mere bulk alone was to be aimed at in the 
crop, the problem would be a very simple one, but 
there are three points to be considered: first, how to 
get a crop that shall be great in bulk and at the same 
time give us the second desirable point, viz.: ripeness, 
and thus insure the third desirable point, viz.: the 
highest percentage of sugar it is possible for the roots 
to acquire. 



OAK ROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS. a? 

This matter of the value of Mangolds, for feeding- 
purposes, being in about the same proportion as the 
sugar present, though appertaining to that part of 
this Treatise which treats of "Feeding to Stock," yet 
has so direct a bearing on the manuring of the crops 
that I will take it up at this place. The recent re- 
searches of that distinguished chemist, Prof. Voelcker 
of England, than whom there is iiO' better authority, 
has thrown much light on the question of manure in 
its application to this crop. The Professor takes the 
position that the nutritious value of roots is in propor- 
tion to the amount of dry matter in them, and that the 
percentage of sugar present coincides with that of 
dry matter, the proportion of sugar rising or falling 
with the percentage of dry matter in the roots. That 
the feeding value does not depend on the proportion 
of nitrogen they contain, is proved theoretically, by the 
fact that the percentage is very much higher in the 
early stages of growth, before the crop is matured, 
than it is later in the season, while in the experiments 
of Mr. Lawes in feeding sheep, the lot containing the 
most nitrogen in the way of nutrition gave the poorest 
results. 

Assuming with Prof. Yoelcker that bulk should not 
be sought at a disproportionate sacrifice of sugar in 
the crop, and that certain soils and certain manures 
and certain methods of cultivation are more favorable 
than others to the development of this desirable pro- 
portion. I present extracts from his valuable article 
on "Root Crops as affected by Soil and Manures." 

"Land highly manured with rich dung from the fat- 
tening boxes or stables, induces luxurious and vigor- 
our growth in root crops, and, as is well known, has a 
tendency to develop over-luxuriance in the tops. This 



CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS. 

is the case more particularly if the dung is derived 
from fattening beasts, liberally supplied with oil-cake 
and artificial food, rich in nitrogenous constitutents. 
If the Autumn turns out fairly dry and warm, the 
roots in highly manured land continue to grow vig- 
orously, the bulbs swell to a large dimension, and if 
the weather in September and October continues 
warm and dry, a heavy weight, and fairly ripe roots, 
result from the liberal use of rich dung. But should 
the Autumn be cold and wet, too liberal application 
of good, well-rotten dung is apt to maintain the lux- 
uriant tops in a vigorous, active-growing condition, 
at a period of the year when the crop has to be taken 
up, and the result is an immature root crop, of a low 
feeding value. Although the bulbs may be of a good 
size, they turn out, when grown under such condi- 
tions, watery, deficient in sugar, and not nearly as 
nutritious as they would have been had a more mod- 
erate dressing of dung been put upon the land. The 
main cause of the immature condition and low-feed- 
ing quality of Mangolds grown with an excessive 
quantity of rich dung is the comparatively large 
amount of ammonial and nitrogenous constituents in 
the dung; for numerous field experiments have shown 
that the peculiar tendency of ammonia salts, and of 
readily available nitrogenous substances is to induce 
luxuriant leaf-development and vigorous and pro- 
longed growth, which results frequently in a more or 
less immature condition of the roots. There is thus 
danger of over-manuring crops ; and the desire to pro- 
duce heavy crops of Mangolds not unfrequently leads 
practical men not to appreciate sufficiently this dan- 
ger. It is quite true Mangolds are very greedy feed- 
ers, and no doubt some soils will swallow up almost 



CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS 

45 
any amount of dung; but at the same time it has to be 
borne in mind that all land is not alike, and that there 
are many naturally rich clay loams containing im- 
mense stores of plant food which requires only to be 
brought into play by good cultivation in order to be- 
come available to plants. I am much inclined to 
think that it is a mistake to manure soils of the latter 
description too liberally with dung, even for Man- 
golds, and that in many cases a more economical re- 
sult, and certainly a better quality of Mangolds, al- 
though not so heavy a crop, would be given, if in- 
stead of all the enormous dressings of dung which are 
often applied to that crop, the lands were manured in 
Autumn with only half the quantity of dung, and the 
seed drilled in with three to four cwt. of superphos- 
phate or dissolved bones, which manures, as we shall 
see presently have a tendency to produce early matur- 
ity in roots. We frequently hear of complaints that 
Mangolds scour, or do not keep well. Complaints of 
this kind are only expressions in other words for the 
immature condition of the roots, and in many cases 
the cause of this undesirable condition has to be 
sought in the excessive amount of ammonial or nitro- 
genous constituents which are applied to the Man- 
golds in the shape of heavy dressings of dung. The 
same remarks apply with equal force to the exclusive 
and to abundant use of sulphate of ammonia, nitrate 
of soda, and nitrogenous manures in general. The 
special effect of all ammonial and nitrogenous ma- 
nures in general, as already stated, is to produce lux- 
uriant leaf development, to induce prolonged and vig- 
orous growth, resulting in an immature and watery 
condition of the bulbs. 

"Large roots, generally speaking, are far less nutri- 



4 6 CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS. 

tious than better matured roots of a moderate size. 
For illustration of this fact I quote the following com- 
parative analyses: 







m£ 




6 








sf, 


„<*} 


rQ 








CD +3 

bftfl 
+3 C 


C/lu 
0) 




< 






zu 


0H 


o 




Mangolds lbs. 


91.85 


1.84 


2 86 


2.54 


1.41 


7 12 lbs. 


89.48 


1.24 


3.95 


4.51 


.82 


4 lbs. 


89.77 


0.73 


7.68 


.89 


.93 


1 to 2 lbs. 


86.90 


0.61 


1051 


1.07 


.91 



"Small Mangolds approach Sugar Beets in com- 
position, whilst large Sugar Beets are hardly better 
than common Mangolds, and monster beets are even 
less nutritious than well-matured Mangolds of fair 
average size. Monster roots, as is well known, are 
always very watery, poor in sugar, and almost useless 
for feeding purposes. 

"Big Berkshire beets, — one weighing 16 pounds 
and the other 12 1-4 pounds, — contained only 3.89 or 
4 per cent, of sugar respectively, and in round num- 
bers as much as 91 1-2 per cent, of water. This high 
percentage of water is accompanied by a larger 
amount of albuminous compounds and of mineral 
matter, than the proportions in roots, containing very 
much more solid feeding matter. A large amount of 
albuminous matter and of ash, indeed indicates imma- 
turity and poverty in sugar, a characteristic of big, 
excessively manured roots. 

"Generally speaking, all nitrogenous manure, either 
should not be used at all, or only sparingly, for roots, 
on stiffish land, and all soils which contain a good 
deal of clay, are naturally cold and unfavorable to a 
vigorus and rapid growth. Light land, like most pro- 
ductive sandy soils and friable turnip loams, favors 



CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS. aj 

the quick and vigorous growth of roots, and is condu- 
cive to early maturity. 

"Nitrate of soda has the same general effect upon 
root crops as nitrogenous manures, but it appears to 
be more energetic in its action, and, on the whole, to 
be a useful addition to home manures, and to increase 
the produce in roots more considerably than sulphate 
of ammonia. Its effect is specially marked upon Man- 
golds, and, to my knowledge, heavy crops of Man- 
golds have been produced upon rather light land by 
i 1-2 cwt. of Nitrate of Soda, two cwt. of common salt, 
sown broadcast, and four cwt. of dissolved bones 
drilled in with the seed. 

"Potash salts in some field experiments which I 
have tried in different parts of the country, have 
shown that Potash has a decidedly beneficial effect 
upon root crops, on poor, sandy soils; while on the 
majority of land, and notably upon clays or clay 
loams, or soils in a good agricultural condition, Salts 
of Potash do not increase the produce. The special 
effect of superphosphates, dissolved bones and similar 
phosphatic manures, is to produce early maturity; 
and hence phosphatic manures are employed in prac- 
tice very largely, and with much benefit, by root 
growers. In free-growing, light soils, it is desirable 
either to use dissolved bones in addition to half dress- 
ing of farm-yard manure, as a manure for roots, or to 
spread broadcast 2 or 3 cwt. of salt, or 2 cwt. of 
p-uano and 1 cwt. of nitrate of soda and 2 cwt. of com- 
mon salt, and to drill with the seed 3 to 4 cwt. of dis- 
solved bones. On the heavier description of soils it 
is preferable to use mineral superphosphate for roots, 
especially if the land has been dressed in Autumn 
with a moderate quantity of dung." 



,g CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS. 

SALT AS AN AUXILIARY MANURE. 

It will be seen by the table of analysis of roots, that 
the Mangold has in it a remarkably large percentage 
of Chlorine and Soda, the roots yielding respectively 
9.9 and 184, while the tops give, 17.8 and 23.3. Salt 
being a combination of Chlorine and Soda, known to 
chemists as Chloride of Sodium, must therefore be a 
valuable auxiliary manure for Mangolds, that is, one 
to be used in connection with other manures. Prac- 
tice proves what chemistry indicates. Prof. Voelcker 
tells us that "salt tends to check over-luxuriance in 
the tops, wmile it prolongs the period of active growth. 
In consequence of this specific action it may be em- 
ployed with benefit as an auxiliary manure upon 
light land, in quantities not greater than five bushels 
to the acre." Mr. Lewes, of New York, believes that 
by scattering over the surface, when the Mangolds de- 
velop the fourth leaf,, four or five bushels of the refuse of 
the Syracuse salt works, which is about equal parts of 
salt and plaster, he has increased his crop ten tons to 
the acre. Mr. Lewes finds that salt tends to prevent a 
disease which sometimes attacks the leaves, known as 
"rust. He states that it can be obtained at the works 
for about $3.50 per ton. Prof. Voelcker believes it 
would be injurious rather than beneficial on heavy 
land. 

The quantity to be applied to the acre as given by 
practical growers, varies from four to twenty-five 
bushels. The effect is not always the same; one sea- 
son the increase may be very striking and the next, 
under the same application, not be perceptible, the 
cause of which is not very clear, though it appears to 
give better results in dry seasons than in wet. The 



CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS. < Q 

must striking- effect from the application of large 
quantities, in my experience, has been on the borders 
of meadow land. A number of years ago I manured 
in the furrow with refuse herring bait, salt and all, 
just as taken from the fish barrels. The crop of Man- 
golds grown from this manuring was one of the 
largest and smoothest I ever raised. The next season 
the land was planted to Oats. In the Fall, while laying 
a heap of this oat straw in the barn, I chanced to use 
one as a tooth-pick. It tasted as though it had been 
pickled; thinking it was the result of some accident, I 
took another; that also was salt. This aroused my 
curiosity and on examination I found farther, to my 
great surprise, that all the straw tasted as though it 
had been dipped in pretty strong brine. Certainly 
this tremendous salting, over and above what the crop 
of Mangolds could use, to all appearance, had not 
lessened the bulk of roots. On meadow land, Mr. 
Ware of this town, thinks that in a dry season he 
doubled his crop by the application of refuse salt, at 
the rate of twenty-five bushels to the acre. In pur- 
chasing waste salt for this or any other agricultural 
crop, it is best to get the dirtiest lot possible, for this 
dirt is the waste of the fish on which it has been used, 
and consists mostly of fish scales, which for manuring 
purposes is decidedly the most valuable part of the 
fish. For this reason the waste from salted herring is 
probably the most valuable of all. 

PLANTING THE SEED AND TENDING THE 

CROP. 

Our ground being now ready the next step is to 

plant it: How much seed shall we need and how far 

apart shall we have the rows? The very best of seed 



r Q CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS. 

is often disappointing in the matter of vegetating, and 
it is therefore best to plant with a liberal hand, for it 
is better to have to thin out than not have plants 
enough. From six to ten pounds of seed is the quan- 
tity used, the larger quality when planted for sugar 
purposes, the object in view being to get an even 
stand with all the roots the same distance apart, to at- 
tain which a great deal of thinning is necessary. As 
to the proper distance between the rows, practical 
growers will give various replies; — 18, 20, 22, 24, 30 
inches. The thirty inch men are those who expect to 
depend on the cultivator to do about all their weeding. 
That the crop does not require so much room to yield 
the greatest bulk, is shown by the experience of other 
cultivators, who have raised from forty to over sixty 
tons to the acre, with their rows from eighteen to 
twenty-two inches apart, while the greatest, crop on 
record, viz.: — of over eighty tons to the acre, was 
raised with the rows twenty-four inches apart. 

Planting on ridges is often advised, but as far as I 
have observed, those who begin this way generally 
change to the system of level culture as they advance 
in experience. The only advantages I have found in 
the system of ridge cultivation have been that the 
Mangolds appear to grow with fewer roots, and are 
rather more easily weeded. These advantages in prac- 
tice are more than off-set by the extra labor of making 
the ridges and preparing them for planting. Man- 
gold seed is apt to come up badly. In France, where 
land is cut up into small areas and labor is cheap, one 
would expect to find as little waste as possible, but 
while travelling there I noted in their fields that the 
Mangolds were quite scattering. Mangold seed, like 
those of beets, are enclosed in a porous shell which 



CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS. a 

itself is usually called the seed. By cracking these 
"seeds" the real seed will be found within, at the an- 
gles, from one to four in number, and when broken, 
if fresh, appear as white as flour. One reason why a 
portion of the seed fails to vegetate, is, I infer, from 
the quantity of moisture necessary to reach and swell 
the encased seed. For this reason, if planted during 
dry spells, care should be taken to get them down to a 
good depth, say an inch and a half deep, and then to 
pack the fine earth closely over them so that it may 
hold the moisture. Any machine, therefore, that is 
used for planting should have a good roller. To 
facilitate and hasten the vegetation, some cultivators 
practice soaking the seed, by pouring on water when 
almost at a scalding temperature, and letting the 
seed remain in it from thirty-six to forty-eight hours, 
being careful to keep it where the water will not fall 
below blood heat, then rolling plaster or dry soil, until 
it is sufficiently dry to drop readily from the machine. 
Some prefer to plant by hand, believing that the 
greater certainty of getting the seed up and the 
greater regularity of the plants in the row is more 
than an off-set to the additional labor. In doing this 
some growers will drop the seed on the surface by 
the machine, and then follow and push them under to 
the depth requisite, with the thumb and finger; others 
use a strip of plank about four inches wide and three 
feet in length, on the under side of which are inserted 
wooden pins, every seven inches, the pins being one 
and a quarter inches in diameter and projecting two 
inches. The holes having been made, the seed are 
dropped in, and covered by the hand. Where blanks 
are found they may be profitably filled by transplant- 
ing the young Mangolds, care being taken to break 



-^ GAIIROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS. 

off the tops of the larger leaves, and also to loosen 
the ground a little when planting them. If a time 
just after a shower is selected, the result will be very 
satisfactory. The transplanted roots when gathered 
in the Fall will usually be found with several small 
roots in place of a single tap root. 

All root crops require prompt and thorough atten- 
tion in the matter of weeding, and to lessen this 
costly department of labor they should not be raised 
on land abounding- in the seed of weeds. Mangolds 
will require two or three hand weedings, besides as 
many slidings with the scuffle or wheelhoe. If too 
thick they should be thinned rather early in their 
growth, for I have oftentimes noticed that if this is left 
until the roots begin to develop, those left standing 
are apt to be dwarfed. It is best to give two thin- 
nings. The plants should be left from ten to twelve 
inches apart; the crop of eighty tons was thinned to 
twelve inches apart and as the roots are more apt to 
grow coarse and prongy, and with less sugar in them, 
when far apart, I am inclined to ten or twelve inches 
as far enough. The object aimed at should be, as 
Prof. Voelcker has shown, to get the weight in many 
roots of medium size rather than in fewer roots of 
large size. 

GATHERING AND STORING THE CROP. 

Unlike other roots, the keeping qualities of Man- 
golds are destroyed by a temperature low enough to 
but little more than freeze the surface of the ground. 
In the late Fall when the growth is about completed, 
these much exposed roots have but few leaves to pro- 
tect them and hence, where freezing weather is feared, 
the provident farmer will always give them the bene- 



CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS. r-i 

fit of the doubt. If he is so unfortunate as to have his 
crop injured, let him at once get the most he can out 
of them, in the way of food, for though the injury at 
first may appear to be but trivial, the part frozen will 
become first corky and afterwards turn black, and 
ultimately rot. If but slightly frozen the frost may be 
taken out by at once covering the roots temporarily 
with earth, but such roots must be fed early or they 
will rot. Where the globe or ovoid varieties are 
grown, on land where they pull hard they may be 
lifted by running a subsoil plough with care. In pull- 
ing these, or any roots that are to be topped on the 
field, don't do, as is usually done, either scatter them 
on the surface, without any system, or throw them 
into heaps, as in either way the cost of removing the 
tops is increased. If thrown in piles the tops become 
more or less intermingled, and the small amount of 
extra labor therby caused in topping each individual 
root becomes great in the aggregate, when thousands 
are handled. Still it oftentimes happens that the 
weather takes a sudden, unexpected turn, threatening 
too low a temperature for the safety of the crop; 
under such circumstances the question is how to get it 
out of danger in the most expeditious way possible. 
The quickest way is to pull and throw into heaps, 
roots in, tops out, by which arrangement, should there 
be considerable of a freeze up, the tops would shield 
the roots. To protect them still more effectually earth 
may be shovelled over the heaps, so as barely to cover 
them, and when protected in this way they may be al- 
lowed to remain quite awhile awaiting the leisure of 
the farmer. Here let me say that this plan of protec- 
tion will not answer for all crops, as I have learnt with 
Cabbages, to my sorrow, for when coyered up this 



r* CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS. 

way, but for a few days, when taken out they will be 
found to be almost cooked by the great heat which 
they have developed. 

In gathering all roots the great object is to have as 
few handlings as possible, hence, if the tops are not 
twisted off as the Mangolds are pulled, they should 
be laid in rows, tops in and roots out, four or more 
rows being put in one. It will be best to have two 
hands work together, and so make two of these rows, 
leaving a small passage-way between them, the roots 
being on the inside. Now let the topper follow with 
a large and sharp knife, and lop off the leaves to his 
right and left as he goes, being careful to so top the 
roots that each individual leaf will fall separately, 
which means that he is not to cut the top of the root 
itself, for unlike Carrots, Mangolds so cut are apt to 
decay when stored. For economical work the knife 
should be a large and somewhat heavy one, the blade 
eight or nine inches in length. A small grit stone for 
the use of the hands engaged in topping any kind of 
roots is always a good investment ; is saves running to 
the barn for an occasional touch on the grindstone. 

If the roots are to be marketed they will need to be 
left to have the earth on them dry, that it may fall off 
when loading, but if for use on the farm it will be 
rather of an advantage, as it will help keep them from 
wilting. The portion of the crop to be fed before Spring 
should be stored as near to the place of feeding as 
possible. The great object should be to keep them 
sufficiently covered and cool to prevent wilting. As 
all the beet family are good keepers, there need be but 
a small per cent, of loss. Store them in a cool, rather 
moist cellar, provided it has no standing water. The 
heap may be three or four feet in depth, and should 



CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS. 

be covered with earth that is rather moist than other- 
wise, to prevent evaporation. The long varieties may 
be piled cordwood fashion. Those to be fed after 
Spring opens can be kept in a pit, dug in gravelly soil, 
on a hill-side, or where there is no danger from stand- 
ing water; the pit may be three or four feet in depth, 
and be filled to the surface. In covering there are two 
methods: one, to throw the earth directly on the 
roots, and the other to first cover them with corn- 
stalks, or some dry, coarse litter before throwing on 
the earth. In practice I find that when the litter is 
used the roots in immediate contract with it are apt to 
mould, more or less, and be affected with a dry rot, 
though it is an excellent plan to throw over coarse lit- 
ter up to severe freezing weather. Which ever course 
is pursued it is best not to throw on more at first than 
is sufficient to barely cover them, and to add the re- 
mainder, making a covering of about two feet in depth 
in all; to which is to be added a foot of coarse hay as 
the weather becomes cold. The process of thatching 
with straw and so piling that there shall be a roof-like 
slant to the heap, with furnace-like ventilators open- 
ing from it at intervals, I have never found necessary 
in actual practice, the elevation of the earth above the 
bed being a sufficient water shed, while the cold 
nature of the root prevents heating. Rats are the 
great enemies of root pits. I have had galleries cut 
by these vermin through a bed of roots, utterly des- 
troying them for seed purposes. The best way of kill- 
ing them- in my experience, has been to drop a little 
arsenic on buttered bread and put it conveniently near 
their holes, but so far hidden that no neighbor's dog- 
would be likely to suffer by it. 



tore. 



56 



Carrots, mangolds and sugar beets\ 



FEEDING THE CROP. 



Besides arguments which are of weight for cultiva- 
tion of all kind of roots, there are special ones for the 
raising of Mangolds. The vast bulk of yield exceeds 
that of any annual crop as high as eighty tons of roots 
having been raised to the acre on the sewerage farms 
of England and when to this is added the weight of 
leaves that such a crop would carry, it will be safe to 
say that a hundred tons have been given to the acre. 
Taken as a whole the Mangold has less enemies and 
is less apt to fail than any other root. Compared with 
the Turnip family, it has several marked advantages, 
being more reliable in dry seasons and less liable to 
disease;. and in flesh-forming heat-giving and fat-pro- 
ducing elements it surpasses it. While the Turnip 
family cannot be raised repeatedly on the same land, 
indeed on most soil can be raised only intervals of 
three or four years, Mangolds can be raised many 
years in succession, as Mr. Mechi, the distinguished 
English agriculturist, has proved by raising sixty 
tons per annum on the same tract of land of six acres 
area, for six successive years. They will keep longer 
in good condition than any other root, under favor- 
able circumstances even as late as July. Experiments 
in feeding steers made with care, proved that while a 
ton of Mangolds increased their weight sixty-five 
pounds, a ton of Swede increased their weight but 
forty-eight pounds, equal quantities of hay having 
been fed in each experiment. Other experiments 
have established about the same proportionate value 
between these two roots, though the general result 
was not as favorable. Mangolds, like fruit, undergo 



CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS. r~ 

a ripening change after they are gathered, and until 
this is effected they are not in the best condition for 
feeding. The ripening process for the most part con- 
sists in a change of starch into sugar, and makes the 
Mangolds both more healthful and more nutritious 
food. Before this change is effected they are apt to 
scour stock if fed to any degree liberally. The time 
when this chemical change takes place will depend on 
the degree of ripeness of the crop when stored; and 
this, as has been clearly shown, is affected by both the 
soil on which they grew and the manure with which 
they were fed; other conditions equal, those grown on 
upland ripen earlier than those on lowland, while 
rank manures tend to prolong the period of growth 
and crops so grown come into condition for feeding 
later in the season. In England, a common practice 
is to begin feeding the Mangolds at Christmas, while 
in this country the middle of January is considered 
early enough. Experiments carefully made have 
proved that when fed to fattening animals they should 
follow and not precede Turnips. It is a good rule in 
feeding this as with other roots or tubers, to begin 
with a small quantity and gradually increase the 
amount up to the limit which the appetite of the cow, 
her general health and the tale of the milk pail indi- 
cate. Every farmer who feeds a dairy needs a root 
cuttter. There are several of these in the market, 
some designed for sheep only, which cut the roots into 
small pieces, others for neat cattle, while some manu- 
factured by our Canada neighbors can be arranged to 
cut for either class of stock. As good a one as I know 
of for stock purposes, cheapness, durability and effec- 
tiveness combined, is one sometimes known as the 
Ames machine of which I present an engraving. 



58 



CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS. 




AMES CUTTER. 



as 



they 



are more apt 



This machine 
is capable of 
cutting about 
two bushels a 
minute. Ex- 
periments in 
England have 
shown that 59 
pounds of 
cooked M a n- 
golds are equal 
to 70 of un- 
cooked. Leaves 
of Mangolds 
should be fed 
to scour than 



with care 

those of any other root. The reason of this is 
that they contain comparatively a large quantity of a 
poisonous acid known by chemists as "oxalic'' acid, 
the same that is developed in Rhubarb leaves, when 
slightly wilted, and which sometimes causes death 
when such leaves are eaten as "greens." 

The practice sometimes followed in Europe, of 
feeding the leaves of the growing crop, where labor is 
very cheap, is thought to pay, as the leaves are gath- 
ered just as they begin to drop from their upright 
position and when their usefulness as nourishers of 
the root have ended. But with labor as cheap as may 
be, there is no economy in this, for, aside from the 
deleterious effects to animals, when fed too liberally, 
by actual experiment it has ben found that the wear 
and tear to the crop, incidental to the plucking of 
these leaves by an average farm hand, injures it more 
than the value of the leaves after they are gathered. 



CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS. 



59 



Were it riot for the enormous bulk that an acre will 
produce in roots when compared with its yield in hay 
or grain, there would be a serious argument against 
the growing of them to any extent beyond what might 
be needed for medicinal purposes, in the fact that the 
manure made from them is of so low a value; and the 
practical weight of this argument would grow in pro- 
portion as farmers acquire a knowledge of the most 
important department of farming. To most farmers a 
cord or load of manure of cow or horse, is a cord or 
load of equal value ; now this is far, very far from be- 
ing the fact, as will be seen by the following table 
which I take from the Scientific Farmer, compiled by 
the celebrated Mr. Lewes, who, by his careful experi- 
ments, has laid the agricultural world under lasting- 
obligation. In this table a ton of English hay is taken 
as the standard and were all the manure saved, both 
solid and luquid, from a ton of each of these varieties 
of food, the ingredients at the market value of the 
Ammonia, Potash and Phosphoric Acid would be 
worth as follows: — 



Hay, ... 

Clover Hay, 

Oat Straw, 

Wheat Straw, 

Barley Straw, 

Decorticated Cotton Seed Cake, 

Linseed Cake, 

Malt Dust, 

Malt, . 

Oats, .... 

Wheat, . . ~ . 

Indian Corn, 



$10.00 
15.00 

4-5o 
4.16 
3-50 

43-33 
30.66 

28.33 
10.50 
11.50 
11.00 
10.50 



6o 



CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS. 



Barley, .... 


. . 9.83 


Potatoes, . ■...-.. 


2.33 


Mangolds, 


1.66 


Swedes, .... 


1. 41 


Turnips, (common,) 


i-33 


Carrots, .... 


i-33 



This table is very suggestive in many ways : — by it 
we see that there are varieties of food, the manure 
from which is worth more than the cost of the food 
itself. In its application to the feeding of Mangolds, 
it at a glance suggests the wisdom of feeding at the 
same time a portion of something richer and more 
concentrated. By so doing the quality of the manure 
is vastly improved and the crops will not be slow to 
discover it. There is still another reason for feeding 
these rich foods while using roots; it enables the 
farmer to feed with profit his straw or inferior varie- 
ties of hay. Says Prof. Stockhardt, "The full benefit 
to animals derivable from feeding roots is secured 
only when the proper proportion of substances rich 
in nitrogen are fed with them; accordingly, about two 
pounds of oil-cake should be fed with each hundred 
pounds of beet root, or other foods may be substi- 
tuted in the same proportion as they are rich in nitro- 
gen.'' 

Recent researches have determined a fact of great 
value to agriculture: that to get the most profitable 
results from food the Albuminoid and Carbohydrate 
elements should bear a certain proportion to each 
other, and that while a decrease in either of them 
from this proper proportion means insufficient food, 
and a consequent loss of flesh, fat or milk, an excess 
of either means money wasted. The proportion for 



Carrots, mangolds ami sugar beets, 



6 i 



cows that are dry and oxen when not at work is 
about one of Albuminoids to eight of Carbohydrates; 
for oxen at work and cows in milk, one of Albumi- 
noids to from four to six of Carbohydrates. 

The following table taken from Prof. Johnson's 
excellent work, "How Crops Grow," gives the pro- 
portion of the Albuminoids, Carbohydrates and other 
elements in roots and tubers. 





5 


"Sjg 
Ms 


A 

< 


o 

2 

-n 
5 


■9 ee 

Sri: 


f2 


6 

a 

fa 


ROOTS AND TUBERS. 


POTATO. 


95.0 


24.1 


0.9 


2.0 


21.0 


i.i 


0.3 


1 JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE. 


80.0 


18.9 


1.1 


2.0 


15.6 


1.3 


0.5 


KOHL-RAB1. 


83.0 


10.8 


1.2 


2.3 


7.3 


1.2 


02 


FIELD BEETS (3 lbs. weight). 


88.0 


11.1 


0.9 


1.1 


9.1 


0.9 


0.1 


SUGAR BEETS (1 to 2 lbs.). 


81.5 


17.7 


0.8 


1.0 


15.4 


1.3 


0.1 


RUTA BAGAS (about 3 lbs) . 


87.0 


12.0 


1.0 


1.6 


9.3 


1.1 


0.1 


CARROT (about 1-2 lb.). 


85.0 


14.0 


1.0 


1.5 


10.8 


1.7 


0.2 


GIANT CARROT (1 to 2 lbs.) . 


87.0 


12.2 


0.8 


1.2 


9.8 


1.2 


0.2 


TURNIPS. 


92.0 


7.2 


0.8 


1.1 


5.1 


1.0 


0.1 


PARSNIP. 


88.3 


11.0 


0.7 


1.6 


8.4 


1.0 


0.2 


PUMPKIN. 


94.5 


4.5 


1.0 


1.3 


2.8 


1.0 


0.1 



To give the tables necessary to develop this inter- 
esting subject to its full capacity, would be altogether 
beyond the scope of my little treatise. I will refer my 
readers to the appendix of that excellent work by 
Prof. Johnson, "How Crops Grow." 

THE COST OF THE CROP. 
An average crop of Mangolds may be set down at 
22 tons. To grow this crop would cost the farmer 
who depends on barn manure mainly, about as fol- 
lows : — 



62 



CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND ■ SUGAR BEETS. 



DEBTOR. 

Ploughing twice, harrowing and dragging, $9.00 

Seed, 10 l"bs., . . . ' . . . . 3.50 

Planting, ...... 1.00 

Sliding, weeding and thinning crop, . . 16.00 
Gathering, topping and storing, . . 12.00 
Manure, and handling of 7 cords, . . 38.00 
Refuse salt, 16 bushels, at $1.25 per hogs- 
head, . . .'"''. . . 2.50 
Interest, taxes and wear and tear of imple- 
ments and teams, .... 15.00 

Total cost, $97.00 

CREDITOR. 

By crop of 22 tons roots, at $8.50 per ton, $187.00 

" tops, — 4 tons, at $5.00, . . . 20.00 

" value of manure left in soil, . .". . 14.00 



$22 1 .00 
Balance, $123.00 

In the above estimate I have assumed most of the 
labor to be by boys, who at hand weeding, if they are 
reliable, can get over the ground faster than men. I 
have made no allowance for the cost of cutting up the 
roots when feeding, as this does not belong under this 
head. Should the land be old the item of weeding 
would have to be increased one-half. The salt I have 
priced at its cost along the sea-coast. I have esti- 
mated the value of the crop at tne average value of 
several years past, while the manure charge is higher 
than it should be where farmers have access to the 
fertilizing wastes of great cities. 

Now, if instead of being contented with a crop of 22 



CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS. 



63 



tons to the acre, the farmer strives for double that 
quantity, he will get it by additional expense in but 
two directions, viz.: his manure bill and the cost of 
gathering and storing. If we now double the cost of 
each of the latter, and credit the results with double 
the crop, which every practical farmer who has had 
experience in root culture will allow is but reasonable, 
we shall have the following results: — 

Extra cost of crop of 44 tons over one of 22 : 
Manure, — 7 cords, . . . . $38.00 

Gathering, topping -and storing, . . 12.00 



$50.00 

Now adding the credit side we shall have for 
Extra 22 tons roots, . . . - . . $187.00 

Six tons tops, ■ . 30.00 

Value of manure left in ground,. . . 14.00 



$231.00 
Deduct extra cost, 50.00 



Profits cleared, $181.00 

In other words, by investing $68.00 for six months, 
we clear $163.00, which, as any farmer boy can figure, 
is at the rate of about five hundred- per cent, a year. 
Mr. Fearing of Hingham, with the same amount of 
manure raised over sixty tons to the acre, and the 
instances are numerous where over forty tons have 
been the crop when even a less quantity has been 
used. Can any farmer who has accumulated a small 
surplus of money do better than invest it in manure? 
There is altogether too much money, for the pros- 
perity of their farming, invested by farmers in Say- 



fr. CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS. 

ings Banks. These banks pay from four per cent, on 
money, but here is an instance where an investment 
made in manure pays over four hundred per cent. 
Merchants don't do so foolish a thing as to put their 
earnings into Savings Banks. No; they invest in 
their business and so keep it and its money making 
capacity under their own control; when will farmers 
be as wise and become their own bankers? Let me 
remark that the farmer who is so wise as to attempt 
to get the most from his land will do well to follow 
Prof. Voelcker's advice and drill in four or five hun- 
dred weight of dissolved bone to the acre, in place of 
the same value in stable manure. 

In the above estimates of the value of Mangolds we 
have assumed that the farmer sold his crop. Now it 
is true of this as of every other crop that the farmer 
can use on his premises, that it is of more value to 
him than the general market price indicates. 

Under this head an intelligent farmer of large ex- 
perience writes: — 

"From experiments made in feeding beets, their 
value has been made to range from 13 to 20 cents per 
bushel, with hay at twenty dollars per ton. An exact 
estimate of the practical value of beets for cattle food, 
is a difficult matter, as it is now, and ever will be, hid 
from mortal ken. The improved condition of the cow 
(when fed to cows during the winter), her increased 
usefulness during the entire season, her lessened liabil- 
ity to sickness and disease which high feeding with 
any one of the different kinds of grain induces, her 
lengthened lease of life, her evident satisfaction and 
perfect contentment, which is so plainly manifested 
while eating her daily ration of roots, are each and 
every one legitimate items to be taken into the ac- 



CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS. (j^ 

count in estimating the practical, the actual value of 
beets as food for dairy stock. 

"After carefully looking at the subject in all its 
bearings, so far as my experience has given me op- 
portunity to do so, I have come to the conclusion that 
beets for cattle food are well worth fully as many 
cents per bushel as good hay is worth dollars per ton, 
without taking into consideration the increase of the 
manure ; and that the average cost, when stored in the 
cellar or put into pits, with every item of expense in- 
cluded, need not exceed eight cents per bushel." 

I will close my little treatise by remarking that 
while I cannot expect to have exhausted so prolific a 
subject, yet I hope and trust that it may prove of value 
as a guide and a stimulus to some of my many friends 
in the great community of farmers. 



I 




000 930 964 



ONION RAISING. 



WHAT KINDS TO RAISE 



AND 



The Way to Raise Them. 



This work, issued by me in 1865, has been 
recommended by some of the best authorities in 
the country and has gone through sixteen editions. 



PRICE BY MAIL, 30 CENTS. 

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MARBLEHEAD. 



OUR LARGE ILLUSTRATED 



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